Distinct ion population in the polar cusp: Possible signature of transient reconnection

Details Distinct ion population in the polar cusp: Possible signature of transient reconnection Distinct ion population in the polar cusp: Possible signature of transient reconnection

Sep 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992esasp.346...43e&link_type=abstract

In ESA, Study of the Solar-Terrestrial System p 43-48 (SEE N93-31674 12-90)

Physics

Convection, Dynamics Explorer Satellites, Flux Transfer Events, Ionospheres, Magnetic Fields, Polar Cusps, Flux (Rate), Ions, Satellite Observation, Solar Wind

Scientific paper

Observations of ion energy dispersion, a common feature of the polar cusp, are discussed. Normally these dispersions show a continuous decrease in energy. However, they occasionally show steplike features in the dispersion. On 15 Oct. 1981, Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) crossed the polar cusp at 1015 MLT and observed three distinct ion populations as the spacecraft moved poleward. These three populations had peak flux energy around 2.7 keV, 850 eV, and 360 eV. The first step coincided with a rotation of the flow; the flow being directed westward on the equatorward edge, poleward in the center, and eastward on the poleward edge. The second and third stems showed a flow directed principally poleward. Furthermore, the magnetic and electric perturbations in the first step are well fitted by an elongated Flux Transfer Event (FTE) footprint model. These results suggest that three consecutive FTE's have injected solar wind plasma into the ionosphere forming the polar cusp. The small latitudinal size of these FTE footprints (approximately 40 km) and their short recurrence rate (3 and 6 min) would be consistent with an intermittent reconnection taking place at the subsolar point in a short time scale.

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